Bio of TDR

TDR is a working professional in entertainment and is obsessed with the game of hockey. More four years ago, this site emerged as a means (or an outlet) to tell some truth'isms about the game post-lockout, rather than the crud fed to us through knuckleheads like Jimmy Dolan and his lemmings universe. Today, there are a hundred Rangers sites and is thankful and grateful to all those that have come after him, but honorable thanks go to his fellow Dark-writers, Graying Mantis and J_Undisputed. And "Let's Go Rangers!"

Bio of Graying Mantis

Graying Mantis is in fact a graying legal practitioner by day (and sometimes, alas, by night). In the cobwebs of his memory, he recalls starting to follow the Blueshirts in 1970 and remembers watching pivotal playoff games against the Blackhawks on a snow-covered Hartford t.v. channel in their 1972 march to the Finals. Giacomin, Gilbert, Ratelle, and Hadfield seen skating on a small B&W TV screens always will be among his first Ranger memories. He is grateful beyond words for the opportunity to work with his colleagues here in their never ending battle to inform and entertain. Most of all, he appreciates the chance to engage with fellow hockey fans.

Bio of J_Undisputed

"J_Undisputed is an Information Tech Professional; a student, and on and off in his dreams, Mike Richter. He caught his first glimpse of Rangers Hockey when an overtime preempted his favorite pro wrestling broadcast on WWOR-9 one late saturday night when he was 5 and he's been hooked ever since. He's been watching the Rangers for 30 years despite family attempts to make him an Islander Fan (Rest easy...they're out of the will). What started as a minor annoyance has become a life long passion (and at times, a frustration...But he wouldn't trade it for anything). Lets Go Rangers!"

Bio of General Ganz

General Ganz is a cynical yet well-informed student of the human spirit. He's a professional of sorts, with a post-graduate education, some experience working in real companies, and some limited athletic ability. The total small package. He got picked on a fair bit as a kid, and he experienced his first human-non-relation kiss in his teens. He also grew up on the other side of the tracks, thereby helping to cultivate a healthy contempt for dreamers and optimists whose rosy upbringing gave them something to smile about, even when "life produced lemons." Like it or not, his only mission is to point out the potholes you're lucky enough to miss on your drive to work. To find the blemish on your daughter's carefully-stitched (and not-yet-paid-for) wedding dress. To take that little smidgen of hope that your favorite hockey teams fill you with, and pour orange paint on it. Oh, and he is a Blueshirts fan, and takes most of his fashion direction from Ron Duguay (whose name he dropped as a way to close the deal on that first kiss).

Thursday, January 29, 2009

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has acquired defenseman Erik Reitz from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Dan Fritsche.

Defenseman Erik Reitz had found a full-time NHL roster spot with the Wild this season. He wore No. 2 in Minnesota but will wear No. 4 for the Blueshirts.

Reitz, 26, has appeared in 31 games with Minnesota this season, registering one goal and one assist for two points, along with 41 penalty minutes. He was tied for fourth among Minnesota defensemen in goals (one), and tied for third on the club overall in penalty minutes (41). Reitz also ranked second on the Wild with 58 hits. He notched his first NHL point with a goal on November 15 vs. Columbus. He also tallied his first career assist on November 22 vs. St. Louis.

The 6-2, 215-pounder has appeared in 37 career regular season contests with Minnesota, recording one goal and one assist for two points, along with 45 penalty minutes. He made his NHL debut on April 7, 2006, at Calgary.

Reitz has also skated in two career post-season contests with Minnesota. In 363 career AHL games with the Houston Aeros, he registered 35 goals and 118 assists for 153 points, along with 721 penalty minutes. He established an AHL career-high with 26 assists and tied his AHL career-high with 34 points in 49 games last season. He also set his AHL career-high with nine goals during the 2006-07 season.

Reitz was named the Ontario Hockey League’s Outstanding Defenseman and an OHL All-Star First Team in 2002 as a member of the Barrie Colts. Additionally, he was named to the Memorial Cup Tournament All-Star Team in 2000. Internationally, he represented Team USA in the 2002 IIHF World Junior Championships, collecting one assist and 12 penalty minutes in seven games.

5 comments:

I hear that Reitz is a stay at home, physical 6th or 7th Dman. While we could definitely use one, if Reitz makes does see ice with the Rangers... I have faith that it will take Renney a maximum of 3 games to water this guys game down to the point where he fits right in with the rest of the poke checking softies.I say keep this guy on the ice with guys like mara, staal, girardi, callahan, and prucha. Not many of them really hit hard, but they try at least. Maybe can preserve any physical nature he might have that way.

Update: Courtesy of Rick Carpinello.. It appears the Rangers like Reitz's toughness at practice today. You tube the guy and you'll find that, apparently toughness means taking the body, lots of shoving and taking a beating while wearing a visor.

That being said, I like the guys spirit. Eventhough he can't really fight and punches like a girl(see: Voros, Aaron), he doesn't seem shy about playing with attitude or answering the call after a hit... but you just know something's wrong when the guys scouting report says "lacks mobility and COORDINATION.."

WTF? Wouldn't you kind of need coordination to get drafted or be a professional athlete. Also makes you wonder why the wild didn't just claim Fritsche off waivers for cheap rather than making a trade if Reitz was really worth something? I think Minny winds up getting Fritsche for 350k... sounds like a good deal for them.

This site/blog is not affiliated with the New York Rangers or The National Hockey League in any manner whatsoever. Some photos on this site are used w/out permission but are hosted on the blogger server, therefore not interfering with the profit or bandwidth of the original owner. If you are the owner of a specific image that we have used in our blog , please email me at amv613@hotmail.com to have it removed - we will gladly remove it immediately.

If you have a hockey blog/website and would like to place a link on our site, please contact me & we can do a link exchange (the best way to get more traffic to our blogs).

Any offer of 'tickets at cost' is exactly that -- I have season tickets and will sell them for what I paid --- so no mark-ups.

The Dark Ranger is a not-for-profit site, not officially, but we derive no income at all from anything on this site; in fact, DARK at his own expense enjoys the freedom of having no sponsors and speaking his f*cking mind.